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The county clerk has numerous duties, including acting as clerk of the county legislative body, issuing motor vehicle titles and registrations, collecting privilege taxes, and overseeing the issuance of beer permits, marriage licenses, and pawnbroker licenses. In addition to these statutory duties, some county clerks also issue certified copies of birth certificates under T.C.A. § 68-3-206, and some county clerks contract with the department of safety to issue driver licenses under T.C.A. § 55-50-331.

The law regulating the licensing and operations of title pledge lenders is found in Tennessee Title Pledge Act, T.C.A. § 45-15-101 et seq., which was amended in 2005 to transfer responsibility for licensing and regulating title pledge lenders from county clerks to the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions. This set of statutes is separate from the laws regulating pawnbrokers.

The county clerk was previously responsible for issuing amusement ride permits, but the law was amended in 2008 to transfer this responsibility to the state Department of Commerce And Insurance. T.C.A. § 68-121-101 et seq.